Party Game Ideas

Top 5 party game ideas

After numerous debates on Saturday game night, I have come to appreciate just how difficult it is to find a game a group can all agree on. This problem was exacerbated by the fact that most of these games were complicated strategy games that required a great deal of investment in time and energy. There always seemed to be a few games people could fall back on though. The hub consists of party game ideas based on my experiences. It is intended, however, for general groups. Not only may these people not want to invest in complicated games, there may be people you don't know in a party with people you really haven't met before. Having taken part in a number of games, my Top 5 party game ideas include: Apples-to-Apples, Morton's List, Citadels, Mao, and Paranoia. I'll be judging based on

How easy the game is to play

Its potential to accommodate large groups of people

How entertaining it is to a general audience

Its ability to be a crowd favorite to be played repeatedly.

Apples to Apples

Party Game Ideas 1: Apples to Apples

Apples to Apples scores high on every criteria. The basic idea of
this party game is humorous comparisons. Each player is given a hand of
seven cards (red apples). These cards have nouns on them. Each turn one
player is the judge (this position rotates). The judge gets a green
apple from the deck and turns it over. The green apples are all
adjectives. Each player who is not the judge plays a noun card to match
with the adjective. Let's say the adjective is "Delicious". The judge
turns over the cards and rates one as the best match. So what if you
don't have a card that's delicious? You play a card anyway and await the
ruling of the judge.

However, the judge has no rules on which card to pick other than the
need to pick one. So let's say you play "dryer lint". The judge might
decide it to be such a complete opposite that they go with dryer lint
instead. Or (if you know the judge well) you might play "pop song" after
the 90's pop song "Delicious". There's no telling what the cards will be,
and its all part of the fun. There is one thing lacking in this game however: there is no building of tension. It's casual, so the
players aren't really invested in someone winning (by winning the most
hands). It also requires five red cards per round to be
enjoyable. You can squeeze in four by pulling off a random red apple off
the top of the deck (the deck has a great track record). Still, it
really can't scale down farther than that.

Party Game Ideas 2: Morton's List

Morton's List is a pretty simple game. Essentially, it's a large list
of things you could do. Many people have great ideas of things to do,
but their internal criticism shoots it down before they can truly
consider it. Morton's List is engineered to overcome this barrier.
Players compete to be the table master (the one that settles disputes).
The table master then rolls Morton's Boulder (a thirty sided die) and
follows the various lists in the book until a proper idea comes about. A
simplified example would be: do something you used to do when you were a
child. (This one resulted in my group making forts out of dorm room furniture.)

The game idea is readily explained and can easily accommodate small
and large groups (15+). You have the option of rolling for another quest
if you don't like/can't do so any undesirable quests can be tailored to
a general audience. It's replay value is high, and unlike Apples to
Apples there is a quest to do so people can get invested in the outcome.
I would fault Morton's List (and it is a big fault) for one reason.
While it is great in loosening you up to do random things, players can
take things too far (one of the reasons why you are allowed to reroll).
Morton's List includes quests like "perform a minor scam", "play a
practical joke on a friend", or "create a public disturbance". Not
everyone rerolls.

Party Game Ideas 3: Citadels

Citadels is a strategy card game that's simple enough to understand
for first time players but intricate enough to bring people back
multiple times. Essentially, all the players are racing towards building
8 buildings. These buildings are cards in your hand paid for by gold
which you can spend and earn. The full mechanics don't need explanation,
but the game offers nine player spots (and can still accommodate 5-6
players). Each turn players select different political roles (King,
Queen, Warlord, etc.) of which there are nine. Each role has a special
effect and the cards are played in a specific order. This game can
accommodate people for a long time. It is strategic, but not overly so,
so people who don't like strategy won't be overwhelmed. The problem with
this game is that if you play wanting to win the game it can be quite
harrowing. Political roles are hidden until they are flipped over by the
player whose turn it is. The first two role cards to play are always
the assassin (which stops a players turn) and the thief (who steals a
player's gold). Because the remaining role cards are still all hidden,
the players with those roles have to guess the best target. Of course,
all the remaining players try to make sure they are not the targets.
This can lead to a metagame that makes people take forever to pick their
roles. A timer might be a worthwhile investment.

You just played the third face card in a row. Perhaps you can reconsider, comrade?

Party Game Ideas 4: Mao

The game Mao is a slight mockery of Chair Mao, in the sense that
communists often have long lists of arbitrary rules. A version of Mao
relies playing simple card game but adding so many additions and
addendums that chaos results. The basic skeleton is the uno style game,
where you take turns playing single cards (of either the same number or
suit) until you go out. I will discuss two variations one simpler and
less chaotic, and one complicated and more chaotic.

The simple version is that the group (presumably small) is playing
with one deck, and whenever a player goes out, the game freezes and the
winner gets to make up a new rule. A new game may start (slower) or the
player to go out is simply dealt a new hand. While the rules are
arbitrary, they arrive slowly enough that you can remember them to a
certain point.

The complicated version is making arbitrary rules, but not telling
people what they are! I played a version with house rules that older
players knew but didn't explain. Another variation is that before the
game starts, you write down an arbitrary rule. Then you pass it to the
player on the left, who is in charge of enforcing this rule (having two
players know the rule keeps these things fair) The only time a player is
to speak is when they are enforcing their rule. Rules discussions are
only allowed when two rules so contradict each other that they make the
game impossible or when cheating is suspected. The penalty for breaking a
rule is drawing an additional card. Taking time is against the rules and so
is failure to enforce the rules. You should probably have at least 3
decks for this. However, unlike the other games with $20 tags, this game needs only a standard deck(s) of cards so just go to the dollar store.

Party Games Idea: 5: Paranoia

Although this does not fare too well on some of the measures, I do
feel the need to add paranoia. Paranoia is a role playing game. (For
reference, it superficially resembles Dungeons and Dragons) These games
require imaginations and quite frankly some people's imaginations are
much less vivid than others. But if you can get a group into role
playing this is where I would start. Paranoia can be run diceless and
paperless (though the one running the game will want some reference. The
paranoia is something of a mishmash of every bad dystopian sci fi novel
from the 50's to the 70's. Players are given (practically impossible)
missions where crucial information is above their security clearance,
where rebuking the team leader is evidence of treason, and where
experimental equipment that always disastrously fails is assigned to the
least emotionally stable party member. It is absolutely hilarious and
almost always has people looking forward to playing it again.

As far as the other measures go, Paranoia needs four people three plus
the game master and maxes out around 7 (six player team). Beyond that
you need to search for another competent game master but two GM's could
easily handle nine players. So the game can get pretty big. Paranoia is
much easier to play then other RPG's because all you really need is a
name and a few other traits. So huge groups, easy mechanics, and crowd
favorites. What keeps this back at number five? The learning curve.
Paranoia is a counterintuitive game.

Let me explain a little more. In other RPG's you have one
character over a number of sessions. Losing a favorite character is a real bummer. In
Paranoia you get six clones. Yes when one of your character's die, you
get a new one. The usual response to a single act of treason is summary
execution. "Treason" is a highly flexible term and an easy hurled at you
by other members of your party when explaining mistakes/failures. So it's often in your best interests to
kill party members... all of them. As the equipment guy, for example,
it's in your best interest to make sure everyone's laser doesn't work
except for yours. The Happiness officer's job is to give other members
of the party happy pills right before combat, etc. This kind of thinking
takes some getting used to and it is often best learned from watching
more experienced players. So the first time through most people are
unsure of what to do. But after this initiation, people always perk up
for paranoia.

Some Concluding Thoughts

In this collection of party game ideas I have decided to stay away
from high profile games like Pictionary or Boggle or Taboo. These can be
found by browsing any basic toy store. They can certainly work in a
party environment and this is why they are popular. The reason I shy
away from these games is usually because I can't find myself invested in
the ending. I play games mostly for fun but all things being equal I
want to win. Picking the right role in Citadels is quite tense. Waiting
for just another thing to go wrong in Paranoia is intriguing. The
uncertainty of a quest from Morton's List is exciting. I hope these
games can flavor up your party.

Comments

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sending

Jennifer Missen 6 years agofrom Colorado

I love, love Paranoia. I wish more people understood it. Getting a six pack of clones doesn't seem to be enough to salve their hurt feelings over me dropping their character into a vat of acid. They get 5 more, for goodness sake. *eye roll* It is a sadistically fun game but regular RPG'ers don't always get why my philosophy is that if anyone survives, it wasn't an interesting game. Thank you for mentioning it.

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